Exciting three-year-old Zamborghini is ready to make his racecourse return that his trainer hopes will lead to a Caulfield Guineas start.
Unbeaten in two starts, Zamborghini takes on some of the best three-year-olds in Victoria in the Group 3 McNeil Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield on Saturday.
A debut winner at Ballarat in February, Zamborghini came out the following month to score at Moonee Valley, lowering the colours of Foujita San.
Trainer Matt Laurie tipped the colt out for a spell before producing Zamborghini at the Cranbourne trials on August 9 where he scored a comfortable win on heavy ground.
Laurie took Zamborghini to Caulfield on Tuesday to give the colt some experience at the track while also looking to keep the colt’s competitive juices under control.
“I thought it was important for him to get a look at the track,” Laurie said.
“The trip away, he’s still quite a baby, mentally, so every bit of experience we can give him will hopefully pay off in the end.
“He is probably a bit too comfortable at Mornington. He can get a bit keen early, but on Tuesday he was a bit more backoffish which was good on the big open spaces, and he rounded it off OK.”
The Caulfield Guineas is a stallion making race and like a lot of trainers with a good three-year-old colt Laurie is hoping to get Zamborghini to that race.
But Laurie is also realistic to know Zamborghini will need to earn a start in the Group 1 race in October.
“At this stage the Caulfield Guineas is the race we would like to get him into, but whether he tells us differently, we’ll see in first couple of starts,” Laurie said.
“I’ve always felt he’s a horse that would be a seven (1400m) or eight (1600m) furlong horse. He’s got that nice long, long action, more of a building galloper rather than a sharp type of Zoustar.
“He’s got a good top speed and at both starts when placed under pressure, he’s responded.
“It will be interesting to see if he can go to this next level.”
